Give it all up for 24 hours...If you dare!

O.K. I have been wanting to do this for ... a long time but finally tonight I cut off the power to all but the kitchen major Appliances. (Fridge and
freezer) I am online in a crazy corner of my home and the house is BLACK! or should I say DARK really dark. Thank goodness for the almost full Moon
giving some light but most curtains are all closed.

I am a Mom of 3 small kiddos and my husband is gone working well a lot! What I am trying to say is give it all up for 24 hour to prepare for what may
be around the corner or if not ... you will still have a blast with your family!

It is not easy because us Adults - (Har, har, well some) Keep putting it off. Well I finally said enough and switched out well most of our home.

Some of my kids are trying to talk me into not doing this but I already did ... right in the middle of dinner. Some are loving this! Camp out at
home! But I am trying to let them get used to the fact this could happen anytime. We could lose power for a hundred possibilities! Better be ready
than not.

Of course Mom has found a cheat but I really wanted to know how my young kids reacted and took all this in. Well I can say 2/3 love it but the 1/3 is
not on the boat. I am hoping by working with him and keeping up this "drill" from time to time he will get used to it.

The funny thing is our family hunts, fishes and camps a lot and everyone is always trying to be number one! ...Whatever I guess! I will be online for
a few more minutes to to be fair to my kids ( they are too young to know but this is my test as well) I have 24 hours nothing coming too and it could
and will be a welcomed break...even though I already mowed my lawn.... I guess I will utilize my cordwood sauna and take one!

What I am tying to get out is get off your butts and shut off the garbage spewing from what ever and live for 24 hours! I know it is going to be hard
for me as well as my kiddos! Hell instead of a Bunn coffee maker i will be outside cursing a stove to heat faster! We will see but we will learn.

Just sayin.. Can you? Have you? What is 24 hours?? Times and updates! Great Weekend prep stuff!

OK dropped my mouse in the endless darkness........ crap..... found it and now awaiting the fearsome trolls.

Too often it seems, when the power goes out for whatever reason, modern society is so used to having everything at their disposal, that people just
sit there for an hour then go to sleep, because there is "nothing to do", when there is everything in life to do. Maybe you have the right idea
pushing that purposely rather than accidentally.

You hit the nail on the head! Ya I am just trying to hang for a wee bit but alas I must say good night all to soon. I know and realize this may not be
possible in a true SHTF but this is MY scenario and it was really to communicate with my kids.

Kudos to you for at least taking a step.
24 hrs of no lights/TV/internet may seem like an eternity for you with children.

With that said, if you really want to do your family a favor, get rid of TV. Keep the dvd player, by all means, but the idiot box is the most invasive
and damaging thing in your house. Watch videos that you have selected each night instead.

Also, if you really want a drill, try going without power for a week. This exercise will really give you a good idea of the weak spots in your
survival plan.
Heck...in 24 hrs the stuff in your freezer will still be frozen.
Though your kids wont like it and they may make your life miserable during the exercise a 1 week exercise will open your eyes as to what is really
necessary to have for you and your family to be better prepared for the next emergency blackout.
Better your kids grumble during an exercise and learn to flow than to have to endure that during a real emergency.
Of course, JMHO

Here in New England we lose our power for 3-7 days in a row pretty much every winter. It can be especially tough when one has no power and the sun
starts going down at 3:30 in the afternoon.

Most people seem to be able to handle it pretty well for a day or two. After three days people start to crack. I notice a lot more road rage (even by
massachusetts standards!), people in the supermarkets seem very on edge, pushy, grumpy and the like. Lack of power is all anyone can talk about. After
a week or so people start talking like they are surviving the apocalypse. Cold showers! Oh the humanity! All they can think about 24hrs a day is about
when the glorious power will be restored. When that day comes, Hallelujah!

If you are totally dependent on technology for entertainment, and the power goes out, sitting in your room staring at the wall... waiting... that's a
bad trip and will make anyone crack.

Walk the dogs. Rediscover hobbies that require no power. Crank up the AM radio. Read. Dealing with not having power is survivable and it's a good test
of character. It's a relatively recent discovery, after all

I used to teach Survival. Winter, Jungle, Mountain, Ocean, Arctic....and I am good at it.

I live in Mass. and we had a 2011 Halloween Nor'easter that caused power outages anywhere from a week to 3 weeks. My power was out for 7 days.
PEOPLE WERE FREEKING OUT! They just could not handle it. In my home...I have generators and always plenty of food and water...as well as Batteries
and Candles as well as all important TOILET PAPER as people were buying up everything and anything!

I think it is a good idea that you are showing your kids what it is like not to have power. I personally would take it a step further and do this in
the COLDEST PART OF WINTER. Learning basic Survival Skills in my opinion is a MUST! Buy a Survival Book at an Army/Navy Outlet and give each kid a
copy...it could one day save their lives!
Split Infinity

Originally posted by SplitInfinity
I live in Mass. and we had a 2011 Halloween Nor'easter that caused power outages anywhere from a week to 3 weeks. My power was out for 7 days.
PEOPLE WERE FREEKING OUT! They just could not handle it.

Yeah that was a crazy storm. It was like a great big sociological experiment! Interesting times.

Nothing really special, although i admire the action to teach your kids who are only used to running power and water 24/7.

here in Indonesia we have very frequent power outages for several hours, and at times i had no running water for a full week at home (real headache to
organize/ buy water), with 1 kid , wife and full time babysitter living at home

made me realize that access to clean water , as well as proper water conservation management...above everything else, is the most important part of
any survival scenario.

I can see what your saying but I am in Montana and the winters here are not mild! But nothing like your used too I bet but my family has no cable
limited computer time and my kids and myself are outside most of the day during the warm months. What really worries me is keeping us all busy during
the Winter since we are outdoorsy. Oh we do the usual sledding, and such but it is not the same as being outdoors all day all Summer.

I agree! We camp all the time so being outside running crazy is no problem but when you come home you can take a hot shower/bath.;sleep with a
nightlight and fight over the ipad the next day! My kids are young.. 3, 6, 8 and I want them to not only appreciate what they have but learn what they
don't really need!

That is one point... here the US everything is taken for granted. Public schools here just brainwash your kids. Example.. my kids came home on Sept
11th this year and said they NEVER mentioned one thing about that fateful day in school. Kids now days take everything for granted and I am not going
to let them sit around and be come brainless computer/iphone addicts. I see them everywhere! So sad. I never use my cell more than a few times a week!
Never because I talk to the person I want to communicate with! Oh sorry a rant there but I hate cell phones!

Ya this post is not meant to full of mind blowing information but I am wonder if any of you have the guts to say what the hell and call it on 24
hours! I have 15 minutes before I am turning in. Will be midnight here in Montana and I am trying to reply to not look like a spoof and yet trying to
figure how I can make some nachos on the BBQ!

Montana...Beautiful! You know...most people would think that Mass being so highly populated would not be a state with much Game. Truth is...we have
so many Deer they are dying of Starvation from lack of Hunting. We have a lot of Black Bear now as well as Wild Turkey, Grouse, Pheasant...and now
Moose and Mountain Lion.

We just got a lever action Henry 22 for the kiddos to use! Ya Dad cannot wait tell his boys are big enough to do all the real work at hunting! My
husband would rather sit at camp and play his guitar. I for one LOVE to hunt but hate to gut! That is the truth but now I am craving fresh liver and
onions. WOW hunt all day and come home to hunting camp smelling that! First time I was 16 and snarfed my fair share for sure! Since then Yucky
nothing compares!

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